The time period… odd to say that but the 90s was perfection and won my heart. I loved this second chance, look at memory lane that Scotch created. Definitely original and full of nostalgia this was a fun look at the what if’s and why’s.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for my eARC and PRHA for my complimentary audiobook. I jumped at the chance to listen (and read) when I saw Julia Whelan was a narrator.

Frankie and Ezra had the typical college romance that imploded on graduation day. To this day they still harbor resentment and frustration over how the situation was handled.

Fast forward 10 years and they are back on campus for a friends wedding. How will they react upon seeing each other? At first I thought this was going to be a go-back-in-time and fix all that went wrong, but it is so much more than that. After waking up in their old dorm with no memories of the previous night, and wedding rings on their fingers, Frankie and Ezra have 10 years of memories to wade through before they can piece together the booze and xanax filled night.
Second chance romance, and friends/enemies to lovers is one of my favorite troupes. Allison has blended both of these in a soul searching holiday read.

The Rewind is a fantastical trip down memory lane for those of us who attended college in the glorious late 80's.
And now I have dated myself. But it is worth it. So many fond memories came rushing back of my own college days with each and every mention of 80's music, the clothes, the crowded bars and walkman cd players.

3.5 stars rounded up.

The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch is the story of college sweethearts Frankie and Ezra who are back on campus after 10 years to attend the wedding of their college friends, April & Cooper.

After a scavenger hunt the night before the wedding, Frankie and Ezra wake up in bed together the next morning with no recollection of the night before. And they are both wearing wedding rings!

As Frankie & Ezra try to put the pieces of the night before together to figure out what happened and if they are really married, they also have to deal with their pasts.

I enjoyed the nostalgia of this book. It is set on New Years Eve, 1999. I loved all the musical references and technology references. And because we also get to visit the characters in college in the late 1980s, that added another layer of nostalgic fun!

At times I found the story repetitive, and a little slow. I think the trope was enemies to lovers, but it could have been executed better. It’s also a second chance romance, which worked better for me.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. If your looking for something set on New Years Eve, set on a college campus, or a romance, pick up The Rewind.

Thank you to #netgalley and #berkleybooks for the advanced e-copy of #therewind.

This book will be available to everyone on November 1, 2022.

I really enjoyed this book. A touch of nostalgia and a touch of a romantic comedy. It was funny and sweet. The main characters were likeable and I really couldn't put it down.

I don't know what it was about this second chance romance that just didn't work for me but it was only a like not a love unfortunately. I enjoyed the 90s nostalgia, the scavenger hunt aspect and the 1999 New Years Eve timeline. It's very possible I just needed to read this book as a print copy instead of on audio because I wasn't a huge fan of the narrators. Much thanks to @prhaudio and NetGalley for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review. Recommended for fans of Sophie Cousens and those who love complex second chance at love stories.

CW: miscarriage, accidental pregnancy

This is an entertaining story of two exes trying to work backwards to remember what happened the night before and how they ended up together. You can guess from the premise that there may still be a connection between them. Learning about their past will have you rooting for them to try again!

**3.75** this was such a nice read! I went into this book thinking it was going to be a light-hearted romcom, and I guess in some ways it was. the rom was there. the com was also there. but it wasn’t a “my tummy hurts from laughing” kind of book, which I honestly didn’t mind at all. I actually really appreciated how everything Frankie and Ezra dealt with was real and serious, not at all frivolous. is it absurd that all this soul-searching and the realizations the stemmed from it happened in the span of a little over 24 hours? maybe! but I can’t say that it didn’t make sense.

I loved seeing these characters grow. they were not really easy to love, especially at first: on one hand you have Frankie, with walls so up they could reach the sky, and on the other there’s Ezra, bending over backwards to stay in an unrewarding relationship just for the comfort of not being alone. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and yell at him to wake up. but as the story unfolds and they revisit the events that led them there, both of the night before and what happened between them a decade prior, you learn why they are the way they are and, more importantly, you really see them grow, realize their mistakes and shortcomings and take accountability for them. I truly appreciated that.

my only complaint goes towards **spoilers** the pregnancy plot. I am hardly ever a fan, and while I’m pretty sure that the whole point of it was to show that both of them were in the wrong, I genuinely despised how they acted.

I also have to mention that, though this represented a nonissue and could totally just be a Me Thing, the constant back and forth between the present narration and the flashbacks got quite confusing at times because of the use in both cases of the past tense; sometimes I couldn’t really tell when the shift between the “then” and the “now” (or viceversa) happened until I was a few lines in and it hit me like “ohhhhh”

overall I had a really nice time reading this book. thank you to PRH International for the arc!

About 20% into this book, I came to the sudden realization that if you are a fan of Emily Henry’s books, you would probably very much enjoy this book. Unfortunately for me and for this book, I am, in fact, not a fan of Emily Henry’s books and therefore, not a fan of this book either.

This book falls into the category of romance I like to call sad, white people ennui. And, I’m not always a huge fan of that particular brand of romance but again, this is more of a YMMV type situation and I am aware that many people may feel different.

The story is a weird meld of romance meets The Hangover. The 2 wake up drunk in Ezra’s former college dorm room 10 years after they graduated college and broke up. Then the rest of the book is spent retracing their steps from the night before to figure out how they ended up in bed together.

The set up on its own is fun, if a little bit hijinks heavy. I fully expected Mike Tyson’s tiger to show up at some point and am a little bummed it didn’t happen. But the really issue with the book is that for a book that relies so heavily on getting the readership to fully invest in these two characters and their second chance romance, I just…couldn’t seem to care.

Part of the issue lies with Frankie and Ezra, the 2 exes who have not set eyes on each other in the 10 years since they broke up and have spent much of that time actively hating each other. While we are forced to retrace their steps right along with them, we also get to journey back in time to the genesis of their relationship and how it unfolded and ultimately, how it destructed. And it all seems a bit…benign? They had different dreams, different paths that led them in different directions. It’s not the end of the world, it doesn’t have to be a big dramatic break up (although when you’re 22, everything seems big and dramatic, I guess). These two kids freshly armed with college degrees don’t have the emotional maturity to make a go of a real, adult relationship…because they’re just on the cusp of adulthood. But because this book creates such a weird, convoluted reason for their breakup (she is pregnant, he proposes marriage, she says no, they want different things, they break up, she calls him a week later to announce she miscarried), there’s all this unnecessary bitterness and angst and drama that’s festered for a decade.

I didn’t really buy any of it and also calling this a romance seems a bit far fetched honestly, because so much of the book is spent with them fighting and it’s not the sexy, I really want to rip your clothes off but will mask this inconvenient attraction by arguing with you kind of fighting, but just really bitter and resentful. And at some point, I started to wonder if these people were actually meant to be together.


TL:DR I found the characters boring and the relationship bland and not something I could invest in emotionally. This was a miss for me.

Content Notes: unplanned pregnancy, miscarriage, off page parental death from cancer, toxic parental relationships, shoplifting, injured due to being sprayed in the eye with mace, possible concussion;

Ok, I wanted to love this one. I really liked the concept, but the execution just didn’t work for me.

The story follows Ezra and Frankie as they work to piece together their night together. The first time they saw each other in 10 years after a seemingly perfect 2 year relationship and a tough breakup.

Perhaps it was because we only got snippets of their past, but I couldn’t completely connect with why they hated each other so much. I think I would have liked the story more if it was told alternating between present time and past.

I think there was just not enough of the character’s in this story and I wasn’t invested. I actually kinda disliked both of them throughout the story.

Overall, this was just fine for me (3.25/3.5)

I think if this book had not come out this year, I'd have stronger and more positive opinions. In a very crowded market it was just ok for me.

I’ve read other books by this author and have enjoyed them. This book felt long and jumped between two time periods that were ten years apart. Frankie and Ezra were not likable characters and there didn’t seem to be a lot of romance between them. The writing in each chapter jumped around between the timelines which made it confusing to follow. Both of their respective jobs didn’t seem real to me. Lots of whining in the dialogue. #TheRewind #NetGalley

I love bickering "enemies to lovers" but there has to be sexual tension and chemistry and there just wasn't any in this. I don't think I've ever read a book where two people belonged together less than Ezra and Frankie. It also had an underlying cheating theme that I didn't care for at all. There were other things about this that I didn't really care for either, such as the unrealistic aspects of both Frankie and Ezra's jobs. Frankie did not read to me as the high profile rock manager she was supposed to be and Ezra's "tech" genius didn't ring true, either. The scene where he hacks into a random laptop in about a minute was just too much. I also got really tired of the author repeatedly using both Frankie's first and last name. I was just incredibly bored with this and I didn't like the writing so I DNF'd it at 60%. I hate not finishing an ARC, but I just can't see myself recommending a romance that is so unromantic. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

The Rewind was the cutest!! Frankie and Ezra are ten years removed from college graduation when the wedding of mutual friends brings them back to their college campus on New Years Eve 1999. The turn of the century! Though Frankie and Ezra broke up in spectacular fashion in college, they are offered a second chance through some bizarre circumstances. This book was witty and filled with 80s and 90s nostalgia that I SO appreciated even though I am a bit younger than the characters in terms of when I went to college. I loved the self-reflection that both Ezra and Frankie experienced as they evaluated present and past choices through mature eyes. I was cheering for them all the way through, even when a true rewind seemed unlikely. So many heart eyes for this book!

I can't wait to check out more books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the chance to read an advanced ebook copy. All opinions are my own.

Reason I picked up the book: I'm a huge fan of Allison Winn Scotch's books, and the synopsis sounded intriguing—I love books that involve reunions of a sort.
And what's this book about? Two exes wake up together with wedding bands on their fingers—and no idea how they got there. They have just one New Year’s Eve at the end of 1999 to figure it out in this big-hearted and nostalgic rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch.

When college sweethearts Frankie and Ezra broke up before graduation, they vowed to never speak to each other again. Ten years later, on the eve of the new millennium, they find themselves back on their snowy, picturesque New England campus together for the first time for the wedding of mutual friends. Frankie’s on the rise as a music manager for the hottest bands of the late ’90s, and Ezra’s ready to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Everything is going to plan—they just have to avoid the chasm of emotions brought up when they inevitably come face to face.

But when they wake up in bed next to each other the following morning with Ezra’s grandmother’s diamond on Frankie’s finger, they have zero memory of how they got there—or about any of the events that transpired the night before. Now Frankie and Ezra have to put aside old grievances in order to figure out what happened, what didn’t happen...and to ask themselves the most troubling question of all: what if they both got it wrong the first time around?
Recommended for: Anyone who enjoys "reunion" books as well, or cute rom-coms with a dash of drama.
Favorite paragraph: What Ezra Jones always needed was a plan. What Frankie Harriman always needed was a foil. They never could have worked. They were always a thunderstorm of impending doom.
Something to know: I haven't been reading a lot throughout the pandemic—as you may have noticed, my guest reviewer Becki has been doing the heavy lifting on this blog with her reviews—but this was the first book I've read that I wanted to keep reading ASAP to see how it ended.
What I would have changed: Nothing. Now I want to see it made into a movie, too.
Overall rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Where can I find this book? Click here to pre-order on Amazon—it will be out on November 1st.

Did I stay up far too late so I could read this all in one sitting? Yes. Was it absolutely worth it? Yes. Am I still thinking about this book two days later? Yes. This book will be your jam if any of these categories apply to you: 1) You are a Gen X or Older Millennial. 2) You went to a small liberal arts college. 3) You like music, and specifically jams from the 80's and 90's. 4) You had a first love go incredibly sideways. 5) You like your heroes to be Good and Kind men. If you fit all of these categories, why are you still reading this review and not the book?

A note about the structure of the book: It takes place almost entirely on New Years Eve 1999. The main characters often get struck with intense memories of events that happened 10 years ago when they were in college, but they are memories and not "flashbacks". And the main characters often reflect on their memories and have epiphanies along the lines of "Oh, now that I am grown I can see how I was doing/being/saying this thing which in retrospect means I was the problem".

I don’t thing I have ever stopped reading a book at 63% but i couldn’t take another minute of this silly story filled with the mayhem more appropriate of 12 year olds, not 32. Unlikeable characters and incessant whining. I have liked all of this authors books but this one was not for me. Thanks anyway netgalley.

Scotch’s latest is a second-chance rom-com set on a snowbound New England college campus at the turn of the millennium and told mainly through the internal monologues of the protagonists; actual dialogue is sparse.

Starred Review: https://www.booklistonline.com/The-Rewind-/pid=9767379

College sweethearts Frankie and Ezra broke up several years ago and haven't spoken since. Years later, a mutual friend's wedding brings them back to the same place. They both go in, determined to avoid each other and they spend New Year's Eve doing just that. However, they wake up together the next morning on New Year's Day in Ezra's old dorm room and with an engagement ring on Frankie's finger. Neither of them know how they got there, what happened, and what it all means. The story follows them as they try to piece everything back together.

I'm going to start by saying I did not finish this book. I recognize I'm in the minority. I urge anyone interested in the premise to give it a shot. The story will appeal to many. However, the two roadblocks I had were so major that I couldn't power through.

Roadblock one was the "tell, not show" theme. A great deal of the book (great deal for me is the the first 23% of the book. I can't speak to the rest of it) told the reader what was happening. Instead of actual dialogue and actions, it was an inner voice narrating. A lot of it was remembering the relationship in college. I think if half the book is devoted to a previous time, it would read more easily if the author time jumped in the story and denoted the period at the start of a passage. The way the story was relayed in inner voice became tiresome and it the method of storytelling was a surprise. I only expect that kind of storytelling in epistolary novels, where you know from the get-go that you will consume the story that way. Usually when done purposefully, it feels right to tell the story that way. This felt off.

Roadblock two: the main characters were hard to like. Some anger and pettiness is expected, funny, and/or I can relate. The heroine especially began to grate my nerves and I no longer felt connected to her. Her inner voice got harder and harder to read.

The story itself still sounds appealing and I kept pushing because I was dying to know how the circumstances the characters found themselves in came to be. I'm still curious. Just not willing to put myself through any more of the roadblocks to find out. Two stars since I think the plot might actually be a plus.

Loved getting to go through memory lane with Ezra and Frankie. I struggled a bit to get through this because it’s in third pov but nonetheless it was a very beautiful story. I always love a good second chance romance.

Frankie and Ezra were best friends their sophomore year of college and sweethearts the next 2 years. For unknown reasons, they had a horrible break-up right before graduation and haven't spoke or seen each other in 10 years. They are both uneasy about seeing each other at a friend's wedding at the college they met at. When Frankie and Ezra wake up in a college dorm with wedding rings on their fingers, they try to sort out what happened after the rehearsal dinner. Jumping back and forth in time, we learn about their relationship in college along with events from the wedding weekend. Were they wrong to break up and do they belong together? I liked the overall story and the references to late 80's, early 90's pop culture but the main character Frankie rubbed me the wrong way and I felt like the story took forever to wrap up. I was more invested in the mysterious happenings that led to the wedding rings on their fingers.